Kate Foo Kune
Personal information
Birth nameKate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune
CountryMauritius
Born (1993-03-29) 29 March 1993
Moka, Mauritius
ResidenceParis, France
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
HandednessLeft
Women's singles & doubles
Highest ranking57 (WS 21 April 2016)
69 (WD 5 April 2012)
140 (XD 7 December 2017)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Mauritius
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Brazzaville Women's doubles
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Gaborone Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2014 Gaborone Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Benoni Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Algiers Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2020 Cairo Women's singles
Silver medal – second place 2013 Rose Hill Women's singles
Silver medal – second place 2017 Benoni Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2023 Benoni Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Marrakesh Women's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Marrakesh Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Rose Hill Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Gaborone Mixed team
Africa Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rose Hill Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Algiers Women's team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Rose Hill Women's team
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Addis Ababa Women's team
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Cairo Women's team
BWF profile

Kate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune (born 29 March 1993) is a badminton player from Mauritius.[1] She began playing badminton in Mauritius at age six. Her first major tournament participation was 2013 BWF World Championships in China, where she lost in the first round of women's singles to Sarah Walker of England.[2] Foo Kune represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[3] She was the flag bearer for Mauritius during the Parade of Nations.[4]

As a junior player, she won the Under-15 and Under-19 African tournaments. She was awarded the Sportswoman of the year in 2015 in Mauritius. In doubles, she partnered with Yeldy Marie Louison, while in mixed doubles, she partnered with Julien Paul. Her career-best ranking remains 63 as of 2016 and her best performance remains the gold at 2015 African games.

Personal life

Kate Foo Kune is the second child of Jacques and Cathy Foo Kune (née Ng), both leading mixed doubles badminton players who several championships, such as the 1985 Indian Ocean Games.[5] The pair were married in 1990 and had two children. Her sister, Karen Foo Kune, is also a professional badminton player and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Foo Kune pursued her bachelor's degree in Sports Management while at France.[6]

The sisters were paired and played doubles in 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.[7] She is married to Czech badminton player Milan Ludík since August 2020.[8]

Professional life

Foo Kune started playing badminton at the age of six and turned professional by twelve. She first participated in a junior competition at age 12 in 2005. She had her international debut Thomas and Uber Cup Qualification for Africa in 2010 held at Uganda. She was named Sportswoman of the Year in 2015 in Mauritius. In doubles, she partnered with Yeldy Marie Louison, while in mixed doubles, she partnered with Julien Paul.[3] During the early part of her career, she paired with her sister Karen Foo Kune. During her first outing in the African Badminton Cup of Nations, she finished second, but a few weeks later, she won the Mauritius International Series. She went on to win the Under-15 and Under-19 African tournaments.[9]

In September 2013, it was reported that she was one of the 14 players selected for the Road to Rio Program, a program that aimed to help African badminton players compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10]

As of 2016, she lived in Paris, France,[11] and joined Issy-Les-Moulineaux Badminton Club. Prior to this, she trained for four months in Malaysia and Leeds, England.[9]

Foo Kune was part of the Mauritius badminton squad which won the title at the 2016 Africa Continental Team Badminton Championships[12] in February 2016, which also confirms the participation of Mauritius in 2016 Uber Cup. In June 2016, Foo Kune won the 2016 European Badminton Club Championships with her club despite losing in the final to Beatriz Corrales.[13] She was the flagbearer for Mauritius during the Parade of Nations.[14] She won her first match against Wendy Chen Hsuan-Yu of Australia, but was defeated by Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand and failed to qualify for the next round.[11]

In June 2019, Foo Kune was tested positive for doping during the 2019 African Badminton Championships and in November 2019, she was retrospectively disqualified from the championship, thus becoming the first ever badminton player from Mauritius to be suspended for doping.[15] In December 2020, Foo Kune was banned for two years for the positive test, after a failed appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. As a result, Foo Kune cannot compete at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021.[16]

Achievements

All African Games

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2015 Gymnase Étienne Mongha, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo Nigeria Grace Gabriel 21–13, 21–19 Gold Gold

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2015 Gymnase Étienne Mongha,
Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo		 Mauritius Yeldy Louison Seychelles Juliette Ah-Wan
Seychelles Allisen Camille		 20–22, 21–18, 14–21 Silver Silver

African Championships

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2013 National Badminton Centre, Rose Hill, Mauritius Nigeria Grace Gabriel 23–25, 12–21 Silver Silver
2014 Lobatse Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana Nigeria Grace Gabriel 21–14, 14–21, 21–17 Gold Gold
2017 John Barrable Hall, Benoni, South Africa Egypt Hadia Hosny 16–21, 21–14, 21–8 Gold Gold
2018 Salle OMS Harcha Hacéne, Algiers, Algeria Nigeria Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan 21–16, 21–19 Gold Gold
2019 Alfred Diete-Spiff Centre, Port Harcourt, Nigeria Nigeria Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan 12–21, 13–21 Silver Silver
2020 Cairo Stadium Hall 2, Cairo, Egypt Nigeria Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan 21–19, 21–16 Gold Gold

In November 2019, Badminton World Federation released a statement regarding doping test failure of Kate Foo Kune in this championships and decided to disqualify her result.[15]

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2011 Marrakesh, Morocco Mauritius Karen Foo Kune South Africa Michelle Edwards
South Africa Annari Viljoen		 21–19, 9–21, 8–21 Bronze Bronze
2014 Lobatse Stadium,
Gaborone, Botswana		 Mauritius Yeldy Louison Seychelles Juliette Ah-Wan
Seychelles Allisen Camille		 21–17, 22–20 Gold Gold

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 John Barrable Hall,
Benoni, South Africa		 Mauritius Julien Paul South Africa Andries Malan
South Africa Jennifer Fry		 19–21, 21–19, 19-21 Silver Silver

BWF International Challenge/Series (13 titles, 11 runners-up)

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2013 Mauritius International Nigeria Grace Gabriel 21–18, 16–21, 24–22 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Morocco International Belgium Lianne Tan 11–7, 9–11, 9–11, 8–11 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2014 Zambia International Nigeria Grace Gabriel 21–16, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Nigeria International Nigeria Grace Gabriel 21–14, 11–21, 12–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2015 Zambia International Iran Sorayya Aghaei 15–21, 1–0 retired 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Botswana International Hungary Laura Sarosi 10–21, 14–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2016 Uganda International Portugal Telma Santos 10–21, 12–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2016 Norwegian International Malaysia Yap Rui Chen 13–21, 8–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2017 Zambia International Israel Ksenia Polikarpova 14–21, 21–16, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2017 South Africa International India Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka 10–21, 10–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2018 Uganda International Egypt Hadia Hosny 21–19, 21–10 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 South Africa International Italy Katharina Fink 21–16, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2023 Brazil International Italy Yasmine Hamza 19–21, 21–15, 25–23 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2023 South Africa International Egypt Nour Ahmed Youssri 21–16, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2023 French Guiana International Trinidad and Tobago Chequeda De Boulet 21–8, 21–4 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Mauritius International Mauritius Yeldy Louison Germany Annika Horbach
New Zealand Maria Masinipeni		 12–21, 12–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2014 Zambia International Nigeria Grace Gabriel South Africa Michelle Butler-Emmett
South Africa Elme de Villiers		 17–21, 21–19, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Hatzor International France Florent Riancho Ukraine Gennadiy Natarov
Ukraine Yuliya Kazarinova		 6–11, 7–11, 11–8, 10–11 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2014 Zambia International Mauritius Julien Paul Egypt Ali Ahmed El-Khateeb
Egypt Doha Hany		 21–18, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2017 Brazil International Germany Jonathan Persson Brazil Hugo Arthuso
Brazil Fabiana Silva		 11–21, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2017 Mauritius International Germany Jonathan Persson Malaysia Yogendran Khrishnan
India Prajakta Sawant		 7–21, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2017 Zambia International Germany Jonathan Persson Israel Misha Zilberman
Israel Svetlana Zilberman		 Walkover 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Uganda International Germany Jonathan Persson Mauritius Julien Paul
Mauritius Aurélie Allet		 21–11, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2023 Botswana International Mauritius Julien Paul Mauritius Melvin Appiah
Mauritius Vilina Appiah		 21–10, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

Career overview

* Statistics were last updated on 18 February 2020.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Athlete Kate Foo Kune". www.rio2016.com. Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Badminton: Kate Foo Kune s'incline au 1er tour". Le Mauricien. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Players: Kate Foo Kune". bwfbadminton.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "Porte-drapeau de la délégation Mauricienne : Kate Foo Kune, l'histoire retiendra" [Kate Foo Kune made history, will be the flag bearer for the Mauritian delegation] (in French). Le Mauricien. 23 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Korimdun, Naushad (28 December 2015). "Famille Foo Kune: quand le badminton unit et construit". Defi Media. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Olympics 2016: Kate Foo Kune And Badminton, A Family Story". Visit Mauritius. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Mauritian shuttler Foo Kune owns her life to Badminton". Sports Campus. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "A badminton wedding: Kate Foo Kune & Milan Ludík". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  9. 1 2 Hearn, Don (29 August 2013). "Kate Foo Kune – Beating the odds from 'the middle of nowhere'". Badzine. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Newsletter du Mois de Septembre 2013 Road to Rio". Africa Badminton. Badminton Confederation Africa. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Without badminton I wouldn't exist, says Mauritian shuttler Foo Kune". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 24 August 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  12. ↑ "SA, Mauritius Crowned Champions: Africa Continental Team Championships finals". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  13. ↑ Phelan, Mark (26 June 2016). "Corvee inspires Issy to European glory". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "The Flagbearers for the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony". 16 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  15. 1 2 "BWF Statement on Mauritius Badminton Player Kate Jessica Foo Kune". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  16. ↑ "African badminton champion Kate Foo Kune handed two-year doping ban". BBC Sport. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  17. ↑ "Kate Foo Kune: Career overview". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
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